STOP THE 4.1 MILLION DOLLAR relocation of the Listowel LIBRARY.

As you know it’s been brought to the attention of NORTH PERTH citizens that council has plans to spend $4.1 million on rebuilding the Listowel library and moving it to the west end of town where the new super school and sports complex currently stands.

The current location provides many amazing programs in a centralized location available to all. This is a project that needs to be looked into more with more information shared with the taxpayers who will be on the hook for this multi Million dollar project.

This move would have a negative impact in our already struggling down town core with another empty front, we cannot allow NP council to continue making these high end decision without the public approval and support.

Please join us us in signing this petition to KEEP the LISTOWEL Library in the original current location and avoid the negative aspects that come with relocating.

Please see the editorial Written below by :

The following written below was from ANDREW SMITH - LIstowel BANNER .

After meeting for months, the North Perth Public Library Capital Projects Advisory Committee has finally unveiled recommendations moving forward for the municipality’s public libraries. However, public reaction to the news has been less than kind.

Drawing the most fire is the committee’s decision to investigate a $4.1 million addition to the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex, opposed to an option of spending $2 million to renovate the existing Listowel library. Online comments on the story have ranged from what will happen to the historic Carnegie library building, to where North Perth council plans on coming up with the $4 million for a new building.

Mayor Julie Behrns commented on the municipality’s appetite for spending, saying that for “capital projects, it doesn’t matter if they’re $1 million or $4 million. There will be fundraising campaigns and plans in place. People will decide if they need it or not.” The problem is that North Perth has just finished a $13.4 million project for the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex opening in a few weeks, with over $5 million raised by the community. Fundraising fatigue is bound to set in at some point, and the community may not be as gung ho for a new library as the mayor seems to think.

Behrns also commented on the possibilities of building a community hub with the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex and the neighbouring Westfield Elementary School. Commenters also raised the point that Listowel’s library already serves as a hub for the community, with its central location accommodating foot traffic from downtown. The re-location of the library to the west end would not only isolate the building to an area of town with fewer residents and services, it would leave one more vacancy in an already struggling downtown core

Of course, any discussion around the new Steve Kerr Memorial Complex invariably leads to the desire for an indoor pool at the facility. North Perth council and staff have repeatedly dismissed the idea of an indoor pool as non-profitable and a burden on taxpayers, but to use Behrns’ own words, the people will decide if they need it or not.

North Perth council has battled with the capital costs around the municipality’s public library system since 2011, with Mayor Behrns, North Perth Public Library Board chair Paul Horn and CEO Rebecca Dechert Sage voicing their opinion that sustainable library programming is more important than bricks and mortar. It’s confusing then, that the capital projects committee would be willing to spend $4.1 million on bricks and mortar.

This conversation has barely scratched the surface around North Perth’s libraries, with Monkton’s branch already moved to the Elma-Logan Community Centre, and Atwood’s library facing an uncertain future. The recommendations from the capital projects committee have yet to be approved by North Perth council, and they are urged to keep the entire municipality in mind when making decisions. After all, residents will be watching